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The Vanna Venturi House, one of the first prominent works of the postmodern architecture movement, is located in the neighborhood of Chestnut Hill in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was designed by architect Robert Venturi for his mother Vanna Venturi, and constructed between 1962 -1964.〔Friedman, pp. 189-191〕 The house was sold in 1973 and remains a private residence. The house is not open to the public. The five-room house stands only about 30 feet (9 m) tall at the top of the chimney, but has a monumental front facade, an effect achieved by intentionally manipulating the architectural elements that indicate a building's scale.〔See plans in Davies, p.144〕 A non-structural applique arch and "hole in the wall" windows, among other elements, together with Venturi's book ''Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture'' were an open challenge to Modernist orthodoxy. Architectural historian Vincent Scully called it "the biggest small building of the second half of the twentieth century.”〔Twentieth Century Chestnut Hill, (Robert Venturi ), Chestnut Hill Historical Society. Accessed 2010-12-08.〕 ==Client and architect, mother and son== The design of "Mother's House", as architect Robert Venturi frequently calls the house, was affected by Vanna (née Luizi) Venturi as both the client whose needs had to be met, and also as the mother who helped develop the architect's talent and personality. Vanna was a feminist, socialist, pacifist and vegetarian with an active intellectual life, reading books mostly on history, current events, and biography. She was born to Italian immigrant parents in Philadelphia in 1893. She dropped out of high school because her family could not afford to buy her a coat, so she was essentially self-educated. She did not marry until relatively late in life in 1924, marrying a fruit and produce merchant, Robert Venturi, Sr. Her only child, Robert, Jr. was born in 1925. Possibly because of her liberal views she perceived herself as an "outsider" and became a Quaker. Robert, Jr. said "I never went to public school: pledging allegiance to the flag - 'coercive patriotism' my mother called it - was anathema to her." The family made summer trips to Arden, Delaware and Rose Valley, Pennsylvania, two communities organized by architect Will Price who was inspired by the Arts and Crafts Movement and the then-radical economics of Henry George. In Rose Valley the family attended plays by George Bernard Shaw at the Hedgerow Theater.〔(Stories of Houses: The Vanna Venturi House in Philadelphia, by Robert Venturi ), accessed 2010-12-12.〕 The family attended the Quaker Philadelphia Yearly Meeting at the Arch Street Friends Meeting House.〔(Dreams & Themes with Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown ), November 19, 2005, Carpenters' Company of the City and County of Philadelphia, accessed 2010-12-13.〕 Robert, Jr. attended a Quaker grade school, then the Episcopal Academy, and later Princeton University earning both bachelors and masters degrees. From 1954-1956 he was a Rome Prize Fellow at the American Academy in Rome. He then taught architectural theory at the University of Pennsylvania, working with Louis Kahn. Venturi met fellow lecturer and future partner, Denise Scott Brown at the university in 1960. As a professional architect he worked in the offices of Eero Saarinen, Louis Kahn, and Oscar Stonorov.〔(The Pritzker Architecture Prize ), Robert Venturi 1991 laureate. Accessed 2010-12-18.〕 In 1959 Robert, Sr. died, leaving his wife enough money to build the house and live comfortably. The designs for the house by Robert, Jr. evolved over four years, but the architect noted only two indications of disagreement from his client. When the work was about three-fourths complete, she looked at the traditional 19th-century house next door and remarked "Oh, isn't that a nice house." She also rejected the marble floor in the dining area, considering it to be ostentatious, but relented as the house was nearing completion.〔Friedman, pp. 191-207〕 Along with the Guild House, an apartment house for the elderly, also completed in 1964, the Vanna Venturi House was Venturi's first work as an independent architect.〔 As a widow nearing the age of 70 as the house was completed, Vanna required that all her daily routine could be conducted on one floor, possibly with the help of a live-in caretaker. Thus the (first floor plan ) contains all the main rooms of the house - the master bedroom, a full bathroom, the caretaker's room, the kitchen and a living/dining area. She did not drive, so there is no garage.〔 Her son, the architect, occupied the (second floor ), which contains a bedroom/studio with a large lunette window, a private balcony, and a half-bath on the stair landing. There is a large side porch and a basement with ample storage areas. The house was also specifically designed for her antiques and reproduction furniture, which she had collected over 50 years.〔Friedman, p. 191〕 Robert lived in the house until a few months after his 1967 marriage to Denise Scott Brown. Vanna Venturi lived in the house from 1964 though 1973, often lecturing visiting architects on architecture and the architect. In 1973 she moved to a nursing home, and died in 1975.〔 The house was sold in 1973 to Thomas P. Hughes, an historian, author, and university professor, and his wife, Agatha, an editor and artist. The Hughes family continues to maintain it as a private residence. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Vanna Venturi House」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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